Healthier Carrot Cake Muffins (paleo option, grain-free, gluten-free)

Moist, lightly sweetened with honey and even a little fluffy, these grain-free and gluten-free healthier carrot cake muffins are the perfect Easter treat. With a paleo and dairy-free option.

First up, if you prefer a grain-containing healthier carrot cake recipe, I have you covered! This 100% whole grain carrot cake is the best carrot cake I’ve ever had. Hands down.

If grains aren’t your thing, these healthier carrot cake muffins are awesome. I feel like a broken record, just because I say this all the time, but I used a combination of almond flour and coconut flour to achieve the perfect texture. I want my grain-free baked goods to taste as close to grain-containing ones as possible and these are pretty darn close!

People often ask if there’s a substitute for coconut flour and there really isn’t. You can easily order it online or you can make your own homemade coconut flour! And the only substitute for the almond flour would be almond meal (which is a lot cheaper than almond flour!) or another nut flour.

So now that we’ve got the carrot cake muffins out of the way, we need some healthier cream cheese frosting! This is the same cream cheese frosting recipe that I used in my last post on carrot cake scones.

It uses just a little maple syrup as sweetener. I really thought cream cheese frosting without powdered sugar was impossible but this maple syrup version was just as good! It’s quite thick so if you want to thin it out, just add some milk.

I’m just guessing that if you’re interested in grain-free baking, you’re not into mounds of frosting on top of your muffins or cupcakes. The amount that this cream cheese frosting recipe yields is just enough for a thin slathering on each muffin. If you want to pipe it like I did, you can pipe about twice as much as you see in the pictures.

I recommend frosting the cupcakes right before serving because once you frost them, they need to be refrigerated. They can sit at room temperature for about 4 hours so if you want to frost them in preparation of a party – no problem! They just taste better and fluffier if you keep them at room temperature and microwaving cream cheese frosting sounds like a bad idea.

Obviously cream cheese isn’t dairy-free but there are dairy-free cream cheeses out there. If you don’t like the thought of using that, just leave out the frosting or use my vegan cream cheese recipe.

It’s naturally sweetened, doesn’t have any unusual ingredients and is also paleo-friendly! Half the recipe should yield enough for a nice slathering on top of each muffin. You can also find my directions for making these carrot cake cupcakes into an 8″ cake on that post.

Want an Easter dessert that’s a little more unique than these paleo carrot cake muffins? Try these blueberry carrot cake bars with granola from Cotter Crunch! They’re gluten-free and dairy-free and look amazing.

And for something with more of a cake texture (like angel food cake!) be sure to give my paleo blueberry muffins a try!

Made these twice already for gluten-sensitive friends, and they were a big hit! I used the ingredients as written, except I bumped up the cinnamon to two teaspoons and also added a quarter teaspoon of allspice. I made them in the mini-muffin pan, sprayed with non-stick spray, lined with papers, which I sprayed, too, so they came out nicely with nothing stuck to the paper. Baked for maybe 8 minutes (check at 6), and this recipe made 30 minis. No, they’re not the same as carrot cake made with flour, but by golly, they’re really good…practically a health food, haha! I used your icing drizzle on only one of the batches that I made. They’re good either way. Gluten-free and “regular” folks all liked them. Thanks for sharing.

I’m so sorry for just now seeing your comment! I just got back from vacation. I’m really glad that everyone enjoyed them! And more spice is always a good thing. ;) And good to know that it makes 30 minis! Thanks for the tip and for your feedback. Sorry again!

I’m not sure what was going but I followed the instructions exactly and they were terrible! They were gummy and I baked them for over 30 minutes and they weren’t really done but got super crunchy on the top. But I made a second batch and they are DELICIOUS! I love how tender and light they are. And there isn’t a huge amount of sweetness either which I love (but I’m sure you can add more sweetener if you need). I did get some crispage on the top but I plan on cutting off the muffin tops for a level canvas for the frosting. I did sift the dry ingredients in the second batch which helped the grittiness. Overall WOULD RECOMMEND!

Sorry for just now seeing your comment! I replied to your other one just now and then saw this comment. I’m happy that the second batch came out better! Sometimes I make my own recipes (that have tons of positive reviews on them) and they come out terrible. I just mess something up during the process. How great that you gave it another try and it worked well. :) Thanks for coming back to let me know!

Do you by any chance live outside the US? In some countries, they have a product called almond flour that we don’t even have in the US (called defatted almond flour). That product is much more dry than almond flour. In the US, almond flour = ground almonds. I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you! :(

MMMMMM. I have made these twice with a couple of minor changes. I replaced the honey with Swerve sweetener and applesauce. I also added a 1/2 tsp. baking powder.So good with almond butter for breakfast. Thank you.

Thank you Erin! My granddaughter loved these! Though I used ground almonds, she didn’t seem to mind at all, but now my pantry has a good finely ground almond flour I bought today for making future carrot cake muffins😁. Thank you again Erin❤️

This is by far my favorite recipe. Every time I make these I have been asked for the recipe. I do add 1/3 cup of raisins and a 1/4 cup walnuts. Baking time is 20-25 minutes. Thank you so much for sharing.

These are amazing! I used a 8 inch loaf pan and then cut in squares. Also added 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes and 1/3 cup golden raisins, also about 1/3 cup more shredded carrots. I love that it is not too sweet. Thanks for the recipe!

Whoa, these are amazing. I have been exploring sweeteners that feel better in my body…and i’m loving date paste right now! So i substituted 1/3 cup of date paste for the honey and two batches turned out so so so good! Thanks for this, Erin!!

I do actually find that it makes a less sweet baked good, but i’m cool with that! That’s just the preference of my taste buds. And i’ll sometimes add something else like raisins to make it sweeter but still in a way that doesn’t crack me out the way more concentrated sugar does (like honey, maple, agave).

That’s good to know! I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for coming back to let me know!

Marissays

March 28, 2019 @ 2:52 pm

I made these yesterday and the only change is that I added some unsweetened crushed pineapple. I am not gluten-free but bake for friends and family who are. I have to say these are absolutely delicious! Definitely a recipe that I will use again and again!